Friday, January 7, 2011

Resolutions '12

Hellooooo, January 6, 2011. Where did you come from? What happened to 2010? 2009? 2008? Well, I've debated and debated and fretted and fretted over resolutions and have finally decided it's a new year and a new decade and I have to start it off right. I have to have something to work on (besides the usual of work and school).

So, I've been thinking about this for awhile and here is what I am going to (try to) do to make myself a better person in 2011!

Volunteer - Since my college sorority days I have barely done any volunteer work and that should change. Whether it be tutoring through the education program at Drake or getting involved in charities. I need to give back to my community. I'm hoping I can help my aunt out more with the dogs she rescues in southern Missouri. I would also really love to look into getting involved in Big Brother, Big Sister.

Blog - This one is pretty simple. I have made this resolution several times. I know. When I don't blog, I miss it. When I do blog, I feel good. You guys make my heart swell up with all your positivity and encouragement! So, I vow to blog more and I vow to comment more. I can be quite the lazy commenter and every time I don't comment I'm reminded of Amber's comment from a very long time ago about how it doesn't take much to click out of your reader and make a comment!

Exercise - The job I have been doing for the past several years requires me to be on my feet for several hours a day. I know I don't burn a ton of calories, but I burn a heck of a lot more than I would if I was sitting at a desk all day. So, I know that is the main reason why I don't gain a ton of weight. Since today and tomorrow are my last days in this career (omg!) I need to get a plan for exercise in place. (which, I have the plan in place... I just need to follow through. So, maybe this resolution should be... follow through?)

Travel - I have a couple trips in the works right now, one being a family vacay that I am very much looking forward to! I will spill the deets later though... Besides that I just want to get outta Des Moines at least once a month. Whether it be to see Lesli in Minneapolis or down to Kansas City to see family. It's so nice to have a trip or mini getaway to look forward to.

School - This is another, well duh! resolutions, but I want to try my hardest to achieve all A's in my classes. For the spring semester I am taking 4 classes, in summer I am taking 2 and in the fall I am taking 5 (ouch...). After the fall semester it's 5 classes for the rest of my Master's program and I'm worried it's going to be hard (ok, I'm not worried. I know!). All I can do is try my hardest and it CAN be done, so I'm gonna do it. :)

Study Abroad - Ok, so I don't think this is going to happen in 2011, but I want to start working on making this happen at some point during my time in graduate school. I regret not studying abroad during undergrad so I feel like I have a second chance to make this happen. I would love to teach somewhere else. I think it would be an awesome experience and even more wonderful for someone like me that is going for her ESL endorsement. Remember my friend Rachel? She lives in Scotland, so I would love to be near her... we'll see, we'll see...

Save - Save money. 2011 is the year to save. Save, save, save. Someone needs to hammer that into my head. My parents were wonderful, fantastic, amazing parents but they did not teach us to save very well. This semester I am able to substitute teach 4 days a week, which will earn me $130 a day in the DSM district and $126 a day in the WDSM district. Other semester will not be like that and I might not be able to sub more than one day. I am going to need to be prepared and save my dough! So, I'm officially on a shopping diet. The Nook was my last splurge...

I've loved reading all of your resolutions this week! It's kept the wheels in my head turning and I'm happy that I've set some resolutions of my own. I can't imagine coming back to these at the beginning of 2012 to recap... because, well... I can't imagine it being 2012! Yikes....

Do you volunteer? What's your favorite charity to get involved in? Have you ever studied abroad? How was your experience?

6 comments:

Amber said...

Great resolutions! Especially the study abroad one - what a fantastic goal!!

For saving, AS SOON as I get a paycheque deposited I pay myself first by transferring money to my ING Direct savings account. Also, it takes a couple days to transfer money OUT of ING Direct account which makes it a lot harder to make impulse purchases with your savings!

Lisa from Lisa's Yarns said...

What a great set of resolutions. I hope you can make the study abroad one happen!!! Now is def the time to do that!

Can't wait to hear more about your vacation plans!

And next time you are in Minnie, we should get together!!

Happy weekend - your retail career is almost behind you! I am sure it's bittersweet but I know you've got great things ahead of you!

Sam said...

i love your resolutions! i volunteer with RFL benefiting the American Cancer Society. Big Brother/Big Sisters sounds fun! I really want to travel more this year too

Suz said...

They need to make a way to comment in my reader. I am so bad a commenting too and a lot of times I have so much I want to say but I am reading on my phone or at work and I don't have time to click through to comment. Sometimes with the log in and word verification it can be 3 more clicks and page loads! I was just about to write a whole blog post about my frustration with this commenting problem but I will stop here because complaining won't change it. Grrrrrrrrrr

Go. Study. Abroad. For. Sure. It is one of my biggest regrets with my undergrad.

I went on a very strict month long spending diet once. I did not spend any money Monday- Friday. At all. It really made me think about every purchase and plan grocery shopping and getting gas. And even after it was over I was MUCH better with spending. It's been almost 2 years since I did that and I was just thinking about doing it again as a reminder to control my spending.

Good luck! Great goals!!

Crazy Shenanigans-JMO said...

I think all of those resolutions are great!! Good luck!

Shoshanah said...

I think studying abroad is a great idea! I definitely wish I spent a semester abroad back in college and part of me wishes I could go back and redo it. I did spend about a month abroad, but a month isn't quite the same as a whole semester or even a year!